Perception by Nicole Edwards Page B

less intimidated by his size now.
Without her shoes on, he could easily rest his chin on the top of her head.
With her shoes, her forehead would be level with his chin, but the woman would
come eye to eye with most men she encountered.
    “So, how does this work?” she asked,
looking around at anything but him.
    “How does what work?” he questioned,
playing her game right along with her.
    Mercedes met his gaze head on, and
he saw the frustration in her eyes. She was doing this, but she wasn’t exactly
happy with her own decision.
    It was a start. That’s all he
needed.
    He waited to see if she would
clarify.
    She didn’t, which left him in
charge.
    Pushing up from his chair, Xander
didn’t waste time as he made his way over to her. Taking her hand, he pulled
gently, encouraging her to come with him.
    If she wanted to know how this was
going to work, he’d show her. In his opinion, talking was overrated when it
came to certain things.
    Mercedes wasn’t new to this scene;
she wasn’t naïve enough to think he’d be gentle with her just because they were
venturing into the unknown together. Five days were barely enough time to
convince her that this was the right thing to do so he couldn’t afford to take
his time seducing her slowly.
    Just as he expected, Mercedes
hesitated briefly, pulling against his hold on her hand, but then she gave in,
following behind him.
    Taking his time, he led her through
his office, then through the main floor of his condo before approaching the
stairs. He didn’t look back at her, unwilling to give her an out just yet. Once
they reached his bedroom, he’d give her another chance to change her mind, but
the most important thing was to get her there first.
    A minute later, they were walking
into his bedroom. Once inside, he shut the door with a gentle click and then
turned to face her.
    Her face registered nothing of what
she was feeling. Then again, Mercedes was good at masking emotions. Almost as
good as he was.
    Xander figured he could credit her
bastard of a father for the way she kept her emotions on lock down. According
to the conversations they’d shared, Phillip Bryant was a fuckup of the worst
order. Xander only prayed he never ran into the guy because he wasn’t sure he’d
let the man walk away with his body intact. Hell, he wasn’t sure he’d let the
man walk away period.
    Shaking off the thought, Xander
focused on Mercedes. “Take off your shoes,” he commanded, ensuring she didn’t
take the statement as a request. 
    Her eyes widened only slightly, but
then she did exactly what he asked, stepping out of her shoes and leaving them
on the floor beside her.
    “Now your blou –” Before he could
get his instructions out, she stopped him by holding her hand up.
    “Me first,” she said.
    Xander took a small step back,
raising his eyebrow in interest, and pushing his hands into his pockets. He was
aiming for casual, although he was having a damned hard time keeping his hunger
for this woman under control. “Go ahead.”
    “We’re going to do this,” she began,
glancing around his bedroom briefly before meeting his eyes once more. “I’ll
agree to five days, no holds barred.”
    No holds barred? Oh, hell. He was definitely
intrigued.
    Xander didn’t smile, but he wanted
to. Victory was a sweet, sweet thing. He didn’t think Mercedes would appreciate
his celebrating, so he forced a bored expression.
    “But, you have to agree to something
first,” she informed him.
    To his surprise, she reached up and
began to unhook one of the buttons on her blouse, this one just beneath her
magnificent breasts.
    “You’ve got my attention,” he told
her, trying to keep his eyes on her face. It wasn’t as easy as he hoped it
looked.
    The single button came free from its
mooring, the crisp white fabric separating slightly to reveal the generous
swells of her breasts cupped in white lace beneath.
    “I’ll agree to play this game with
you. You can do your best to make me